Having had a couple hours so far to digest the brackets, here are my initial reactions:

I have some quibbles with seeding here and there, but overall I think this is the best job the committee has done in years.  Committee chairperson Tom O'Connor said on the selection show that he suggested that the committee get an early start on the process, and it showed.

• Baylor was probably the shakiest selection; they're the one squad I think that you could make an argument should not have been invited.  But, I'm not sure that any of the last-out teams really have a strong argument as to why they should have been in (Illinois State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, or Arizona State - the latter of which is just about finished being serviced by the ESPN Bracketology crew).
  
• If Kansas was, as is generally accepted to be, the last #1 seed in, I'm not sure that Georgetown should have been considered as the top #2 seed to face them.  I guess I find it hard to believe that a Tennessee squad that was considered to be a #1 just 48 hours ago could now be considered the worst of the #2 seeds (placed in the same region as #1 overall UNC) just because they lost a conference semi, when the Hoyas didn't win their conference tournament either.  You could probably make a serious argument that Wisconsin should have gotten a #2 seed instead of Georgetown; interestingly, they would meet in the sweet 16 if form holds.
  
• Xavier caught a nice break getting Georgia in the first round.  It sure seems that mediocre squads that catch fire and win their conference tournaments seem to fizzle out in the first round, once the momentum subsides (off the top of my head, I'm thinking of Syracuse in 2006, St. Louis and Arkansas in 2000, and Georgia Tech in 1993).
  
• Something feels very weird about the #4 seeds - Vandy, UConn, Pittsburgh, & Washington State.  All four have tricky first round matchups - if I had to rank them in order of most likely to lose, I'd say Vandy (vs. Siena), Pittsburgh (vs. Oral Roberts), UConn (vs. San Diego), and WSU (vs. Winthrop).
  
• Everyone's already going bonkers about the USC/Kansas State first round matchup, which will pit O.J. Mayo against Michael Beasley.  Other exciting games should include UNLV/Kent State, Davidson/Gonzaga, Drake/Western Kentucky, Butler/South Alabama, and Miami (Fla.)/St. Mary's.
  
• The most egregious underseeds were Butler at a #7, and Indiana at a #8.  Butler's strength of schedule was hurt by their conference weakness, but 29-3 with some decent wins doesn't merit this low a ranking.  Likewise, Indiana's resume had taken a few hits recently, but there's no way it earned a one-and-out seeding.  This is not to say that they'll win - frankly, I'm fully expecting them to lose - but they still should have been a higher seed.
  
• On the flip side, Oklahoma as a #6 seed?  This is a team that was on the bubble about three weeks ago, and played their way in to the dance - though not overwhelmingly.  That's at least two seeds too high.

Overall, this is a very intriguing bracket that I'm looking very forward to checking out come Thursday morning.  Oh, and one more thing before I finish.  Ohio State, here's your sign:

I have never seen a bigger amount of press in a local daily newspaper over a guy who's not from here, who played here for only one season, than I still do for Josh Hamilton. I keep seeing a Hamilton update in my Enquirer. I hear people calling into sports talk shows about they can't believe we traded him away. And now, to add fuel to this fire, Hamilton is hitting over .500 thus far this spring. He was hot last spring for the Reds which earned him a spot on the team. Look, I wish no ill for Hamilton. I like the guy. He's a feel good story, but he's somebody else's feel good story now. The fact is, all of the touchy-feely stuff aside, Hamilton has played one season in the majors. In that season he was on the DL four different times. He also "only" hit 19 HRs and drove in 47 runs. The way his legend is told, you'd think he was Paul Bunyan with a bat. Hamilton is still young enough and talented enough to hit 40 HRs. For his sake, I hope he does. It would be a great story of perseverence and personal triumph. But, from a Cincinnati Reds standpoint, can we move on and look at all of our young talent. Volquez, who the Reds got for Hamilton, is having a nice spring as well and is probably going to earn a spot on the team, either in the bullpen or in the rotation. Hamilton was expendable for this team. Heck, Jay Bruce might not even start the year in the majors because of the glut of outfielders the Reds have. So, why, would the fans pine away for an injury-prone, 20 HR outfielder? For the story? Well, this chapter of his story is over, so put the book down and read something else.